Aversion
by littlerobotbird
Summary: The Sisters of Legend never rose to power. Nor has the Lord of Chaos laid claim to the fractured land of Equestria. Without guidance, without harmony, the three races of pony have been left to squabble and fight with one another. Thousands of years have passed since some unaccounted for divergence in their history caused all this. A divergence that soon must come to an end.


~o~0~o~ Prologue ~o~0~o~

The woods were still dark, morning's light having yet to cast away the shadows lurking all around them.

Somewhere in the distance, an owl let out its melancholy night song while, somewhere closer, the underbrush stirred with the last stirrings of nocturnal beasts, mice and their brethren fleeing home from predators real and imagined through the thick foliage, sending shudders through him.

Then again, even his own hoofsteps sent shivers up his spine at this point. Every snap of a twig or uncomfortable squelch of mud underhoof was painted in the young earth pony colt's mind as an opportunistic predator awaiting its moment. The crackle of leaves, a pack of them, waiting to tear them apart limb by limb.

"W-we shbouldn't be oot 'ere," he mumbled uncertainly to his companion just ahead, letting his stave roll out of his mouth and into his waiting hoof. "We should head back."

"Will you quit being a sissy, Cobbler," came the hissed reply, his brother's irritated glare obvious even in the low light.

"I am _not_ being a sissy, Cordwain," he retorted, tilting his cap down to obscure his darting eyes. "I'm just not stupid enough to get killed over some silly _bet_." He spat out the word 'bet', head lowering as the owl's hoots seemed to draw nearer.

"And just who's bet was it, hm?"

"Not the point."

"Of course that's the point!" Cordwain stopped momentarily, swinging about to confront his younger sibling. "I'm out here in fates-know-where because I'm _just_ stupid enough to help you with this."

The pair simply glared at one another for a moment.

"Maybe we can just make something up," came the sheepish offer from Cobbler, his eyes dropping to the mud. "It's not like _they__'__ve_ seen them either. All anypony has to go on is silly old mare's tales!"

"Cobbler," Cordwain intoned before simply sighing. "Just follow me and try to keep quiet."

The younger colt fell silent, rolling his stave back into his mouth in order to silence his bubbling nervousness.

_This __is __stupid__... __surely __I __can __handle __the __shame__... _he thought to himself as he glanced about the darkened thicket of trees, eyes flicking to and fro, following every noise that issued forth from the dark, hooves trembling. _I __just __can__'__t __handle __this__..._

"Hold it!" Cordwain hissed, halting Cobbler with a stiff hoof to the sternum as they neared the edge of a lighted meadow.

"What? What is it?" Cobbler whispered, letting his stave slip into a forehoof again as he tried to peer over his brother.

"I think..." Cordwain began, turning to face him, eyes alight with excitement. "I think we've found them!" He stared through the brush, still blocking his sibling's view inadvertently with a hoof. "Or at least one of them."

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" He stepped to the side only to be yanked back by a curt tug of his tail.

"Hold it," Cordwain stated after spitting out his brother's tail. "We don't want to scare her by just rushing out there all willy-nilly, do we?"

"Of course not! This is the chance of a lifetime. We could be the ponies that found the sisters."

"Yes, so keep quiet!"

Cobbler simply glared for a moment before stepping quietly to the side, glancing through the brush to find her there.

"She's beautiful..." Cobbler spoke wistfully, his eyes wide as he stared at the mare, somehow undisturbed by their squabbling.

The meadow itself seemed to be suspended in light. The darkness that obscured the rest of the forest was repelled by a radiant light emanating directly from the unearthly mare before them. A long, soft-pink mane fluttered gently in some unfelt breeze as she bent her long white neck down in an elegant curve to drink from the surface of the pristine pond at the center of the meadow.

"I can't believe that Crescent was right," Cordwain muttered, his attempt at blithe amusement subsumed by the irrepressible awe at the sight of the unearthly mare.

Cordwain's mind raced to think of the words he could use to describe the sight before him, the way the fireflies danced at the arc of the meadow's edge, the way light that seemed to ebb and flow from the mare like the cycle of waves, the way that the mare seemed to beckon and pull him towards her despite her attentions seeming fully focused elsewhere, truly unconcerned with the pair of gawking earth ponies staring at her with slackened jaws and befuddled minds.

Cordwain nor Cobbler had the wherewithal to notice that the forest about them had gone silent, unnaturally so. Never, even in the transitional hours between night and day as the nocturnal gave way to those that foraged and hunted in the day, was the Everfree so quiet.

Nor did they notice the swirling fog that had begun to creep over the forest floor, seeping out from every pocket of darkness as they stood, blissfully unaware.

Nor that, one by one, the fireflies that had ringed the meadow took leave of their duty and vanished into the forest, leaving the glowing mare the sole source of light as even the sky itself seemed to vanish into an inky black.

"I can hardly believe she's real..." Cobbler murmured to himself as he took a cautious step into the meadow.

Cordwain made to reply but found himself silenced, his breath suddenly coming in a choked gasp that didn't reach his brother's ears.

_What __the__..?! _he thought in a panic, trying to move his hooves only to find them stuck to the earth and sinking into it, a coldness creeping over him.

He might've screamed out some word of warning to his brother or perhaps merely screamed for the sake of screaming, out of instinct, out of terror, but the tendrils of darkness performed their works quickly and efficiently.

_By __the __fates__... _we his last thoughts as he stared into the slitted, almost draconic eyes of his captor, empty, pitiless things that bored into his own.

"_She __cannot __aid __you__,"_ an unheard voice echoed in his head before he was pulled roughly into the darkness, his muffled cry soon naught but the barest murmur of an echo left to mark his exit.

In the meanwhile, ignorant of his brother's sudden absence, Cobbler had made his way well into the meadow. He stood, only a body-length or two from the shining mare, but, even so close, he still couldn't see the mare's face, her flowing mane seeming to obscure it no matter which way he twisted and contorted his neck in his hunt for some fleeting glance of it. He struggled to keep his composure as he reached her side, maintaining what seemed a respectful distance. Breath caught in his throat, his right forehoof grazed the pond's edge as he came to a halt, a gentle ripple coursing over the pond.

His disturbance of the water's mirror-like surface soon clashed with another as the mare ceased drinking from it, head rising smoothly from the pond's surface.

Cobbler immediately felt himself flush with embarrassment, his tongue seeming to swell in his mouth as he fumbled for an earnest apology.

"I- I- I am truly sorry, madam," he stuttered out, bowing submissively as he felt a pair of eyes watching him from behind the flowing mane. "I certainly didn't mean to disturb you an- and I..." he trailed off as a soft, lilting laugh filled the air. His clumsy apologies were soon replaced by a nervous laughter as he stared up at the mare.

The sudden stomp of a forehoof silenced him, eyes glaring at him as the meadow fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Slowly, by degrees, she turned towards him.

"How sorry shall you be..." the voice murmured, not in a threatening but in a matter-of-fact tone, the calmness of its detachment sending shudders down his spine.

"Wha- what do you mean?"

The mare did not reply. Instead, she turned to face him fully, her fluttering mane becoming still. Strand by strand, it ceased to move, falling limply at her sides.

Cobbler felt something growing, from the pit of his stomach, a queasy, nauseous feeling gripping him. His eyes grew wider and filled with fear as the last strands fell away.

"Oh... by the fates..."

"By the fates indeed."

The lilting, almost melodic tone had been replaced by a growling baritone, threat dripping from each guttural syllable.

Cobbler promptly fell back, hooves uncooperative as he tried to distance himself from the spiked maw grinning at him. The sightless eyes stared at him, liquid fire leaking from the empty sockets as the pink mane burned away into a fiery inferno, sending rivulets of sweat cascading down his forehead.

"Dost thou knowest not that it is rude to stare?"

His eyes immediately dropped to the ground as he curled around himself, willing reality to be a dream.

"Oh, please... please let this be a dream," he muttered to himself, shuddering as he felt the heat of the beast's flesh lingering over him, the crunch of its hooves moving in a circle about him.

Then, suddenly, the heat was gone.

_Oh__, __fates__... __oh__, __sisters__... _He curled tighter about himself, the sudden cold and wet of forest dew on his back sending shudders down his spine. _Am__I__dead__?_

Slowly, he willed an eye open.

His vision was filled with the image of a pair of happy, pink-colored eyes staring at him, the laughing grin of mare just below.

"Boo."

Never in her life had she seen an earth pony run so swiftly nor heard one scream quite so loudly and shrilly.

"I did not know male's could master such high notes," she remarked to herself with soft chuckle as the cries of the frightened colt faded away into the forest.

Slowly, the young mare turned to the still unnaturally dark forest.

"Sister, I do believe you should let your charge go," she spoke to the shadows.

"Oh, so soon?"

"I'm sure he has chores or something so banal."

"All the more reason for him to stay!" came the laughing reply even as the dark began to fade, a dark blue mare stepping from the diminishing shadows.

"Sister," the elder intoned.

"Oh, fine," the younger relented, a shadowy lump flowing across the the forest floor only to dissipate, revealing a shaking, wild eyed stallion.

"Uh... buh... wuh..." he sputtered, eyes unable to focus, mind unable to comprehend.

"Oh dear..." the blue mare whispered, a small smile forming behind her hoof even as her eyes shone with concern. "I dare say I may have broken him."

Walking towards the simpering heap of a pony, the dark mare jabbed a forehoof experimentally into the stallion's shoulder, sending him collapsing, stiff as a well-aged oak, to the ground.

"Fascinating..."

"Luna..."

"Okay... okay... I'm certain I can fix him," she muttered, horn shimmering a soft blue as she brought it down to his sweat-streaked forehead.

Cordwain suddenly shot up into the air, electricity crackling through his skull before he promptly collapsed back to the ground.

For a few, tense seconds, he was silent and still before there came a sign of life.

_Oh__... __my __head__... _Cordwain moaned as he lifted his head from the ground. _Where __the __hay __am __I__?_

With a groan, the earth pony rose unsteadily, fighting rather strong sense of vertigo as he did so. Through uncooperative eyes he glanced around to find himself in an empty meadow, the first rosy fingers of dawn curling over the forest canopy, causing him to squint at the sudden light.

_Okay__... __in __a __meadow__... __in __the __Everfree__... __now __how__'__d __I __get __here__? __And__why__- _He spotted two sets of hoof prints leading into the meadow, the idle memory of a bet flitting to the fore. _Dammit__, __Cobbler__._

With an dissatisfied snort, the earth pony trudged back into the forest, muttering to himself as he followed to panicked hooftracks back towards the caravan.

"He seemed rather unhappy, did he not?" a soft voice lacking source asked, the question echoing in the meadow.

"Aye, indeed he did, sister," another answered before a flash of yellow revealed the pair. "Perhaps you could have given him some kinder treatment instead."

The younger sister scoffed at this. "And I am certain that you would have been so quick with your magic as you are with your criticisms."

"Yes, I do believe I would have been," the elder replied with a overwide grin.

"Fancy yourself quick on your hooves then?" the younger asked, a few quick beats of her wings bringing her into a hover just above the ground as she slowly began circling her elder. "Perhaps we shall have to test this."

"And how do you propose we do so?" the elder asked, eyes boring a hole in the forest's edge, pointedly ignoring her sisters circuitous course.

For a moment, no answer came, the flutter of wings having faded away.

"Luna?" the elder whispered as she turned about only to be sent back onto her haunches by a sudden, deep-blue hoof to the nose.

"Thou art it, Celestia!" came the cackling cry over the gallop of hooves.

"I thinkest you mistaken, little sister!" the elder yelled back with a grin as she took off after the younger, heart pounding with the excitement of the chase.

~o~0~o~

"Sister!"

"Too slow! Too slow!" came the mocking reply from the younger sibling as she disappeared around the bend, hoofbeats fading quickly into the dull sounds of the morning forest.

"Curses!" the older pony swore beneath her breath as she slowed her burning legs to a trot before coming to a full stop, hopelessly out of breath, her heart crying out for rest within her chest.

With a flick of her head, she swung her sweat-streaked mane from her forehead, letting the gentle forest breeze reinvigorate her before she renewed her chase of her impudent younger.

She had no need to worry about her younger sibling being off, alone in the forest. Fate herself had cast her of protection upon the pair so that, As long as they stayed within the forest's reach, no ill-tidings could befall them. Besides, the forest was their home. There was nothing within the Everfree that could surprise them for they had scoured every last inch of it over the course of their rapidly diminishing youth.

_It __shall __not __be __so __long __before __that __day __comes __to __pass __and __all __this __will __be __left __behind__, _she reminded herself, blowing a stray bit of pink mane from her eyes, the strand clinging briefly to its brethren atop her forelock before tumbling back into her eye, slinging a bead of sweat directly into her right eye in a blatant act of vengeance.

She found her practiced diction slipping, letting out a string of curses as it seemingly pierced her retina. Squinting her injured eye, she cast her good eye about in search of water, finding a puddle from the prior night's storm hiding beneath the nearby brush. Without a second's thought, she dashed towards it and plunged her head into its cool waters, her relieved sigh bubbling up from the shallow waters. Slowly she rotated her head until the right half remained submerged whilst allowing herself to breathe.

The forest was still largely at rest. The distant trills of the meadowlark and the gentle coos of the mourning dove were the only sounds to break the silence. Slowly, she felt her heart relaxing, having been inflamed by the underhoofed attack by her mane.

"Morning Dew!" A sudden yell broke the mare from her leisurely-albeit oddly-positioned-relaxation, causing her to jerk her head up quickly from the cool puddle...

...and directly into a thick, low-hanging branch.

A little colt, drawn by the stream of naughtiisms and other, equally spicy phrases, fought through a bit of foliage to find the pink-maned mare struggling to extract herself from the brush.

"Lady?"

With a frightened jerk of her body, the mare spun to face the colt, taking a large chunk of the brush with her.

"You okay, lady?" the colt, a tiny brown-flanked earth pony, asked, taking a hesitant step towards the mare, her face still obscured by a mix of leaves and roots as Fate's words echoed in her mind.

"Oh! I'm quite alright, sir! Righter than rain!" she sputtered out, plopping down onto her haunches as she fought tooth and hoof with the stuckfast bush.

"Are you sure?" the little colt inquired, finding the mare's panic to be a grand source of amusement.

"Yes, quite sure! Quite alright! You can be right off then!" she replied, shooing the colt away with a hoof whilst continuing her war on foliage with the other.

"Like some help?"

"No! That's quite nice of you to ask, but no. Oh, and would you look at the time. I really must be going! Ta!" she cried out, attempting to flee into the woods.

It soon was apparent that Fate's wards hadn't covered making a fool of one's self as her hooves lost purchase in the puddle, sending her face first into a birch tree.

"I'm gonna get my daddy... you're silly," the colt declared outright as the dazed mare flopped over on the ground, wet mane and assorted bits of bramble obscuring most of her vision as she lay there limply in the morning's light.

The forest fell silent for a moment before a pair of voices returned.

"Dew, where the hay you takin' me?" a new, but familiar voice asked, exasperation laced through his tone.

"C'mon, daddy! The crazy pegasus is this way!" the colt's voice replied, greeting exasperation with exuberance.

"Crazy pega- boy, what you gettin' up to here?" He muttered something that the mare couldn't quite make out. "Oh, I git it. Gotcher friends hidin' in th'brush again, don'tcha?"

"No, daddy, look!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the pair broke through the brush and into her tiny meadow of embarrassment. One of her wings, independent of her better judgement, flopped dramatically, beckoning them.

"Oh... well, will ya lookit that..." the father mused, stroking his bushy chin with a hoof as he surveyed the situation. "Well, I don't s'pose you pegasuses is all that use ta yer hooves bein' on the ground are ye?" he asked with a chuckle.

"It appears not..." she replied blithely, pink eyes staring at the pair through the mess of her mane.

The father laughed, a gap-toothed grin forming on his face. "Well, seems like yer pride's intact at least. Maybe a bit bruised, I think."

"Just a bit." She was unsure of why she had even replied in the first place. She could have just as easily winked herself from view or teleported away, but instead she had lain there, unmoving while she awaited the child's return.

"Well, no sense in stewin' in yer misfortunes, wingpony. We got a caravan jus' a quick trot northways. If'n yer willin', we can have you cleaned up an' back in the sky in a two shakes of a tail."

The mare stayed quiet for a long time, hesitation and curiosity warring in her psyche before she held up a hoof.

"Your terms are acceptable."

~o~0~o~

"Can't say that you're the strangest thing my husband's dragged into camp, but I've certainly never seen one y'all up close, no siree!" the grey-flanked, earth pony mare chirped as she carefully worked a straight-razor through the tangled mess that was the pink-eyed mare's mane.

The earth pony matriarch had been talking nearly non-stop. At first, it had been impressive how well the earth pony could enunciate with a handle in her mouth. By now, it was simply remarkable how the pony had enough oxygen left to fuel her body after such a verbose outpouring of words, assorted facts and anecdotes.

"Oh, that reminds me of the last guest my boy's dragged in. Diamond dog of all things! Can you believe it? I thought a moment that they'd doomed the whole caravan, but it was actually a rather sweet young'un. Apparently there's a big ol' patch o' bedrock right in th'middle of the Everfree an' she ended up tunneling to the surface. I s'pose curiosity don't jes' affect the feline sorts 'cause she ended up wanderin' off and gettin' herself lost all on her lonesome..." the matriarch trailed off for a moment, looking almost wistful. "Were nice to have some female company though, even if she weren't pony. Do hope she got back to her, uh... whatcha call it? Pack?"

Celestia simply nodded along, the matriarch shrugging as she pulled back from the still tangled mane. Slowly, the mare worked her eyes around the tent

"I'mma level with ya, miss. I'm not sure what's got this stuck so tight. Looks like you've got some kinda spike or stone or sumthin' an' everything's all tangled 'round it," she mumbled the last bit as she examined her charge carefully, jabbing at the short, twisting spire. "Might have'ta get me a saw or somethin'."

"Oh... um... is that your husband calling?" the mare perked up, ears twitching exaggeratedly.

"Hunh?" She turned, moving to the gently flapping tent door with her ears perked. "You sure you heard hi-" She cut herself off as a brief flash of yellow filled the tent. "The hay?"

"Oh, I think I got it out!" the mare declared excitedly as the matriarch turned back to find that the odd spire was indeed gone.

"Hunh, well, what'd you do with it?" she asked, an eyebrow cocked as the mare fidgeted nervously beneath the good wife's gaze.

"Oh... I, uh... threw it away?"

"Really now?"

The mare smiled hugely, showing far more teeth than was normal for anypony.

"Well, alright then. S'pose we best get the rest of yer mane sorted."

"Yes... and... thank you for your hospitality... um...?"

"Y'all kin call me, Crescent. How 'bout you, missy?"

"Well... my sister sometimes calls me... Celly. I suppose that shall suffice, yes?"

"Celly, eh? Well, Celly, you've got a right strange way of disclosing that there nom d'plume, but I s'pose I ain't about to force nothin' from ya," Crescent stated with a gentle grin and an elbow to Celly's side. "Wouldn't be hospitable of me, would it? S'pose if'n its good 'nough fer siblings, it's better than enough fer strangers. Good t'meetcha, Celly."

"Qui-OW!" Celestia cried out as her mane was forcibly yanked to one side.

"Aw, quitcher whinin'," Crescent stated, sticking her tongue out playfully. "And... there. Righter'n rain in th'springtime."

Celestia slipped off the bed and trotted over to a small chest of drawers set to the side of the tent, a small stone with a mirror-like sheer having been set atop it.

"Oh... my..." She could hardly muster the words to describe the uneven, half-shorn atrocity of a mane atop her head.

"Well... might be more a heavy drift in the winter t'be completely honest."

"I... I..."

"Oh, don't worry so much, just needs a bit a'sortin' out," Crescent stated with a gentle smile as she guided the shell shocked pony back to the bed.

~o~0~o~

A few minutes later, Celestia emerged from the tent with a much more tolerable-albeit much, much shorter than normal-mane cut and instructions to stay around the camp.

"We're on the edge of gryphon territory here... y'know, safety in numbers," Crescent had told her with a knowing glance.

Eyes wide and curious, Celestia made her way into the camp proper. Though, to call it a 'camp' seemed rather generous. Really, it was just a long line of wagons with the odd tent assembled beside them, a caravan stuck in the proverbial-though in some cases literal as Celestia danced around a particularly deep patch-mud.

"Hey, beautiful!" came a catcall out of the blue, drawing a crimson blush to Celestia's cheeks as she lowered her head and trotted faster to avoid a particularly lecherous pack of stallions set amidst stacks of barrels, cards in hoof.

_I __can __see __why __Crescent __would __wish __for __more __female __company__,_ Celestia thought quietly before stopping for a moment, a playful grin spreading across her face. _Though__, __perhaps __they __simply __need __to __cool __off__._

An almost unnoticeable flash later, she heard a chorus of stallions.

"Ack! The rum!"

"Don't just sit there, plug it!"

"With what?"

"I don't know, anything!"

A mad scramble later and Celestia bent about to find the stallions cradling the barrels as one might a lover, one in particular looking particularly entranced as his cheeks slowly swelled.

_Hmf__... __justice__, _she thought with a smirk as she made her way towards the end of the encampment. _Perhaps__we__do__need__more__mares__. __It__would__certainly__be__a__boon__for__intelligence__._

"It certainly would be," a voice mused from somewhere beside her.

"Yes indee- w-who's there?" Celly sputtered as she spun to find a pair of leering, yellowish eyes gazing out at her from the dark of a particularly ornate tent. It was covered in moons and stars, and made of what looked to be gold and blue silks, making it stand out as a stark contrast to the otherwise earthen-colored tents and wagons nearby.

_Where __did __this __knowledge __come __from__? _she thought to herself, shooting the eyes a dirty look.

"From the aether, naturally!" the voice answered, startling the mare. "But, before you think it: no, I am not psychic, my dear."

"Then how?" she demanded, feeling her blood boil even as a shiver coursed through her.

"Calm, calm, my little pony. You really are much too uptight," the voice implored with a chuckle. "Honestly, where _is_ your sense of fun?"

"How?" Celestia repeated with an angered snort, stomping her forehoof for emphasis.

"Oh, Celestia. You _really_ _are_ just _too_ easy to read, wearing your emotions on your sleeve like that. Most unbecoming of a future princess, wouldn't you agree? I'm sure Fate would think so..."

Celestia's jaw dropped as she found herself utterly at a loss for words. Shaking her head, she tried to regain her composure before addressing the mocking voice.

"How do you know such things?" she inquired once more, taking on a more diplomatic tone as she stepped hesitantly towards the tent.

"It's quite simple really."

"So tell me."

"I know because it is my _job_ to know, my little princess," the voice stated simply, its oddly proportioned yellow and red eyes half-lidded as a suppressed laugh echoed in the tent.

"And what job, pray tell, would privilege you with such knowledge."

"Oh, the meager, humble job of a teller of truths, dear sweet Celestia," the voice quipped, its yellowed teeth glinting in the shadows. "Nothing more. I swear."

Celestia fumed even as she drew nearer and nearer. "What rubbish is this?"

"You cut me to the quick, princess," the voice replied quickly, feigning hurt before reassuming its mocking tone. "I simply see the world as it is. It is my... oh, how would you ponies understand it... my special talent, my _especialitay_, my _forte_ if you would be so kind."

Celestia felt the fire racing through her veins subsiding, the voice's grin seeming less mocking now as she stared into its oddly... animated eyes, its grin seeming disarming almost.

"As I have said, I am but a humble teller of truths. And I sense that there are truths here for you. Truths that you are in need of."

"For me?"

"Yes," the voice answered, its eyes drawing Celestia towards a seat at the table.

From the dark, a ball of crystal glass hovered into view, floating just above the table as a smoky haze swirled within it.

"You need only peer into the crystal, dear Celestia. You need only peer into it and all shall be revealed to you. All of Fate's ends with be at your hooftips."

"That's impossible."

"Oh, Celestia, you are so cute when you think you know." The shadowy voice smirked, a leonine paw coming rest beneath the crystal, spinning it atop the tip of a claw. "You've always suspected though, haven't you?"

"Suspected what?"

"Not what. Who."

"Fate?"

"Precisely."

Celestia simply shook her head, trying to calm the maelstrom of her thoughts even as a sickening cold settled in her gut. Something in the voice's words rang with truth.

"Fate is _not_ as powerful as she has you believe. This you have suspected. After all, why else would she have had to place wards upon you and poor little Luna. What need would she have of them were she all powerful."

"She... I..."

"The wards are not to protect you," it stated in a droll tone. "They are there to control you, to bind you to her."

Celestia was silent for a moment, collecting herself. "Even if what you say is true. She holds no ill-will for myself nor for my sister. She knows what is best for all creatures."

"Oh, my poor, naive little Celestia. So little imagination," the voice chuckled softly, another limb coming from the shadows, an eagle's claw, to rest atop the crystal, the glassy surface screeching to a halt as the gleaming talons gripped it.

Wincing, Celestia pondered the creature a moment, eyes shifting from the mismatched limbs to the swirling of the crystal.

"If you truly believe that Fate holds _your_ wants so close to heart, then perhaps a look into the future would suffice as evidence."

Celestia looked up into the creature's eyes, incredulous.

"Oh, just a little peek! C'mon!" the creature implored, begged almost.

Rolling her eyes, Celestia leaned forward to stare into the swirling mists.

_If __only __to __quiet __you__..._

~o~0~o~

"Sister!" the dark-furred mare called into the woods, wings fluttering as she lit the forest's dark depth with her magic. "Sister! If we were to be playing seeker, I would have greatly appreciated notification!"

With a sigh, the dark mare alighted gently on the ground. She hadn't seen her sister since the morning when she had handily bested her elder at a game of wolves and ponies.

_Celly _was _always __a __lousy __wolf__. __Far __too __loud __through __the __brush__._

And yet now it seemed that Celestia had become a master of hiding.

"Celestia! Come out! I admit defeat!"

Only the quiet harmonies of the nightingale greeted her, a grimace forming on the young mare's face. With a dramatic harrumph, she dropped to the forest floor, sending a few scattered leaves into the air, before resting her head atop her hooves. Slowly, she allowed herself to drift off. Celestia would find her eventually. They were never separate for long after all.

_As __with __the __Sun __and __Moon__, __so __too __are __we_, she recalled Fate's words with a small smile as her half-lidded eyes closed entirely.

"Luna!"

A distant voice cried out for her, but Luna shrugged it off, nestling into the leafy ground.

"Luna!"

A note of panic in the voice stirred her.

"Luna! Where are you?!" The voice was desperate as the cacophonous crashing of branch and brush stirred Luna to full consciousness.

"Celly?"

"Luna!"

Luna gasped as all the air was squeezed from her body in a bone-crushing hug.

"Celly..." she gasped, pounding a hoof on her sister's back. "Breath!"

"Oh, my apologies, dear dear sister!" Celestia quickly relinquished her sister, allowing the younger a moment of respite before once more embracing her in a much more careful hug.

"What is the meaning of this sudden, sister?" Luna asked, confused as she ran a hoof through her sister's hair. "And what has happened to you mane?"

"N-nothing... I simply missed you."

"It has been naught more than a day, Celly."

"Celly! I missed that too!"

"What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing, sister. I've simply come to realize your importance to me," Celestia stated, slackening her grip so that she could look her sister in the eye. "I love you, Luna."

"I... I love you as well, Celly," Luna replied uncertainly, the look of seriousness upon her sister's face unsettling her.

"I love you, Luna. And nopony will ever take you away..."

_Not __even __myself__..._

~o~0~o~ End Prologue ~o~0~o~

_Chapter __One __Preview__:_

The hall was narrow, flanked with doors and guards at long intervals. Most of all, it was familiar.

_Far __too __familiar__..._ he thought with a sigh, listening to the echo of his hooves on the stone floor.

"Miss. You have a visitor," he heard one of the guards say in a curt tone as he approached the familiar door. It'd been over a decade.

"Who is it?" came the demand from inside. Familiar, but not the one he'd come for.

"Her regular, miss."

There was a shuffling of hooves and whispers as he reached the door, peering through the bars at the darkened room within. A moment later, a pair of familiar eyes stared out at him, shining in the dark as she feigned a smile in spite of the tears.

"Hi, Shining."

"Hi, Twily."

(A/N: This story brought to you by . : eating my formatting since the dos-double-aught-tres)


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